The Venezuelan Brass Ensemble came into being in 2003 from
Venezuela's state youth orchestra system (FESNOJIV) under the patronage
of José Antonio Abreu and Thomas Clamor. This unique, state-sponsored
system comprises some 200 children's and young people's orchestras and
about 100 music centres, spread all over the country. In the meantime,
thanks to this work, numerous successful youth ensembles have emerged.
Leading the way is the “Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela”,
where most of the members of the “Venezuelan Brass Ensemble” come from.

NU DIRECTIONS CHAMBER BRASS is
a contemporary chamber
ensemble dedicated to breaking down barriers of
musical categories. This
rhythmically explosive genre-bending brass and
percussion ensemble
brings together classical, jazz, and free improvising
musicians to combine
their talents and form a new innovative brand of
chamber music. NDCB is
comprised of two trumpets, two trombones, and two
percussionists. Each
musician offers his or her own voice to create
a truly unique sound.

Trumpet artist, composer, and NDCB founder Thomas Madeja
created this ensemble in response to a growing need for accessibly
presented original sounding contemporary music. This also drives the
group’s commitment to education. In a concert setting, master class, or
interactive recital, NDCB invites its audience to experience its unique
creative process.
There are no limitations in regard to performance venues either.
NDCB has performed in such varied institutions as concert halls, schools,
salons, museums, churches, and jazz and nightclubs. Audiences from all
walks of life continue to be intrigued and stimulated by this truly one of a
kind ensemble.

The idea for this brass ensemble came about in the summer of 2010.
The ensemble consists of top musicians from both the classical
and jazz scene. This is their realisation of a dream. During concerts,
the audience will hear the “classical” brass instruments of the ten
piece ensemble, but the musicians will also unite jazz and classical
elements, thus explaining the name: 'New Brass Directions' for this
forceful musical ensemble. The concerts will offer a lot of diversity, and the visual
aspect will also play a part. The audience will be entertained and
surprised.

The Belgian composer and jazz trombone player Lode Mertens composed King of Spain for the classical/jazz combination; the British composer and jazztrombone player Mark Nightingale wrote Our House for the same setting. For the classical ten piece ensemble the American composer Stanley Friedman created a Concerto for Brass. Steven Verhaert made an arrangement of Weills Die Dreigroschenoper and Isoldes Tod
from Wagners opera. Renowned trumpeter and composer Bert Joris has
agreed to compose something for the classical/jazz combination.

The key elements are virtuosity and emotion.
Curious? Please keep an eye on the Media and Agenda pages, for YouTube clips, concert dates or public rehearsals.

"...a Brooklyn-based experimental music organization dedicated
to expanding the world of contemporary brass performance by producing
innovative concert programs and recording projects, and by commissioning
new works for its two ensembles, TILT Creative Brass Band (CBB) and
TILT SIXtet (bios below). Since forming in 2003, TILT Brass has
presented the work of over 50 composers, including group members and
local colleagues, as well as established masters. TILT’s repertoire
engages its audience with musical experiences ranging from sonorous
soundscapes to the raucous strains of a street band, from freely
improvised explorations to the precision and clarity of fully notated
chamber music (often combining the latter two within a single work)."

[In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member of this group, which is comprised of members of the Meridian Arts Ensemble, the Atlantic Brass Quintet, and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.]

9. Performance of Philip Glass' Brass Sextet on YouTube as performed by London Gabrieli Brass

Brass Sextet, composed in 1962/64 for
two trumpets, two horns, trombone and tuba, is something of a curiosity.
It was written when Philip Glass, after graduating from the Julliard
School of Music, was composer-in-residence with the Pittsburgh Public
Schools on a Ford Foundation project. This was several years before he
began to become known for the repetitive minimalist techniques which
launched him to fame and have enabled him to enter some of the world's
leading opera houses.

The Sextet is not listed by Glass now, but
it was actually published in England in 1966 by Novello & Co. in
their Music for Today Series edited by Geoffrey Bush. The writing shifts
rather uneasily from consonance to dissonance but there is plenty of
American precedent behind the Hymn, Ballad and gently jazzy Finale.

Billy Childs was born in Los Angeles on March 8th, 1957. Having
demonstrated an aptitude for piano as early as age six, Childs developed
rapidly, and at age sixteen entered the USC-sponsored Community School
of the Performing Arts, studying theory with Marienne Uszler and piano
with John Weisenfluh. In 1975, he entered USC as a composition major,
graduating four years later with a bachelor of music in composition
under the tutelage of Robert Linn.

Since then Mr. Childs has received a number of orchestral commissions
from, among others: Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, the
Los Angeles Master Chorale, The Kronos Quartet, the Lincoln Center Jazz
Orchestra, the American Brass Quintet, and the Dorian Wind Quintet.

After apprenticing with Freddie Hubbard and J.J. Johnson in the late
seventies and early eighties, Childs’ solo jazz recording career began
in 1988, when he released Take For Example, This... the first of four
critically acclaimed albums on the Windham Hill Jazz label. He followed
that album with Twilight Is Upon Us (1989), His April Touch (1992), and
Portrait Of A Player (1993). His next album, I’ve Known Rivers on
Stretch/GRP (now Stretch/Concord) was released in 1995, followed by The
Child Within, released on the Shanachie record label in 1996. Most
recently, Mr. Childs has recorded two volumes of jazz/chamber music –
Lyric, Vol. 1 (2006) and Autumn: In Moving Pictures, Vol. 2 (2010) –
music which is an amalgam of jazz and classical elements, developed with
his ensemble through rehearsal, performance, and recording, over the
course of ten years.

Thus far, in his career, Childs has garnered ten Grammy nominations and
three Grammy awards: two for best instrumental composition (Into the
Light from Lyric and The Path Among The Trees from Autumn: In Moving
Pictures) and one for best arrangement accompanying a vocalist. In 2009,
Childs was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and in 2006 was
awarded a Chamber Music America composer’s grant.

As a pianist Childs has recently performed with, among others, Yo-Yo Ma,
Sting, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, the Kronos
Quartet, Wynton Marsalis, Jack DeJohnette, Ron Carter, the Ying String
Quartet, the American Brass Quintet, and Chris Botti. In January 2010,
The Detroit Symphony (Leonard Slatkin conducting) premiered Childs’
Concerto For Violin And Orchestra with Regina Carter as soloist.
Upcoming commissions include a new piece for the Ying Quartet and
another new work for the Kronos String Quartet.

1 comment:

One of the best things about this post, and this class so far, has to been learning about all sorts of brass ensembles which I have never heard before. I think that in general, horn players are the ones I see the least. So, learning about these groups has been inspiring because I see a big future for horn players too. I wonder why there aren't more horn players in these groups. Is it because of the new/popular styles of music? Is it just sound of the horn? I think horn players are equally capable of rocking some awesome licks so why not?